Sele-detachistg whiffletree



' S. D. BOWKER.

. Whifi'ietree. No. 27,884. PatentedAprJl 'T, 1860.

N; PETERS. PHOTD-LTHOGRAPHER WASHINGTON p L,

"UNITED STATES ragrnnr OFFICE.

S. D. BOWKER, OF GENEVA, OHIO.

SELF-DETACHING WHIFFLETREE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 27,884, dated April 17, 1860.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, S. D. Bowman, of Geneva, in the county of Ashtabulaand State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSafetyhithetrees; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full andexact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 is a front view in perspective of myimproved whiflletree; Fig. 2, a back View of a portion of the same, andFigs. 3, i, and 5, details on an enlarged scale.

The letters of reference marked thereon refer to similar parts in allthe drawings.

The main point of my invention consists in the mode of revolving the baror body of the whifiletree so that the tug-hooks at its ends can bequickly reversed for the purpose of disengaging the traces in case ofemergency, or otherwise. This is accomplished by raising a peculiarlyformed lever which lifts a spring that catches into a notch of a ringsecured on said bar, the said spring be ing lifted in advance of theturning of said bar by an inclined project-ion on said lever. Also, inthe mode of locking said bar by means of said spring and notched ring,to prevent the bar from turning only when actuated by said lever, thussecuring it in condition for ordinary use.

The other feature of my invention is the employment of a cylindrical boxfor holding and supporting the whifiletree so that it is free to turntherein, and is provided with a shank for the purpose of attaching thesaid whiflietree to the doubletree, or to the drawbar of the thills, bywhich means its ordinary horizontal, or sidewise movement is maintained.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my said invention Iwill proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A, Fig. 1, is the bar, or body of the whittletree. This is simply acylindrical bar of wood, with ends tapered to a shoulder.

13, B, are caps having tug-hooks C, C, projecting from their ends. C andC, are springs secured to the sides of said caps, and in contact withthe ends of the said tughooks.

D is a hollow cylindrical box, having its lower side, D, somewhatthicker, and formed square and flat, as shown, from which projects ashank, E, with a screw nut at its extremity. F is a spring secured onthe lower part of said box D; G, a ring, or collar, secured to the bodyof the whiflletree. Said ring is constructed with a notch H, and anothernotch I, both located as shown in the drawing (Fig. The notch H isformed by the raised portions J and K, the lower one (K) being somewhatslanting, as seen in the drawing.

L is the lever by which the bar is operated (its particular constructionwill be seen in Fig. l). From the ring portion of the said leverprojects the tongue N. O is a raised portion of the said lever. Thelower end of the said lever is provided with an eye, for the purpose ofattaching a strap or chain.

Q and Q are collars, or clips, for secur ing the working mechanism inplace.

All the parts of the said described whitlletree (except the bar andsprings) may be of malleable cast iron, and plated or otherwiseornamented.

The different pieces, as described, are put together by first passingthe body of the whiflietree through the box, D, to its middle; then thecollar Q is slid on and made fast in its place with screws. The ring Gis now placed on the opposite end of said box, its notch, H, receivingthe end of spring F, and then secured to the body of said whifiietreewith screws. Now follows the lever L, the projection, or tongue, N,dropping into the notch I, of said ring, G; the lever is then secured toits place (the handle of'course being under the bar) by collar C". Thewhiflietree can now be attached to the doubletree, or to the draw-bar ofthe thills, by the shank E, securing it thereto by the screw nut, thelever being down, which leaves it in the ordinary condition forreceiving the traces.

The operation is as follows: When it is required to liberate the tracesthe driver pulls the lever L upward, thereby rotating the bar A. It willbe observed that as the lever begins to rise its raised part, 0, comesin contact with the spring F, elevating it clear of the lower projection(K) of the ring G. It will be remarked the whittletree bar does notbegin to turn until the spring F, is fully raised above the said lowerprojection. The edge of this projec tion (K) is trimmed slanting, asshown, to prevent any disarrangement of action of said spring.Immediately after the spring is thus raised, the tongue N, of lever L,strikes the lower edge of notch I, of said ring (G), and, as the levercontinues its movement the bar A is turned until the traces disengagefrom the tug-hooks, which will be at about one third of a revolution ofsaid bar. The outside of the said tug-hooks are formed as delineated forthe purpose of aid ing the traces to slip off easily.

Having described the nature, construction, and operation of my inventionWhat I claim therein as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent isthe following:

1. I claim the peculiar lever L, in combination with the ring G, and thespring F attached to the cylindrical box D, the said lever beingprovided with a raised part 0,

and tongue N; and said ring with notches 1 H, and I, and slant ortrimmed portion K, as described, and operating as and for the purposesset forth.

2. I claim the employment of the hollow cylindrical boX D for holdingand sustaining the bar or body of the Whifiietree so that it is free toturn therein; also the mode of attaching the Whiflietree to thedoubletree, or the draw-bar of the thills, by means of the shank E andscrew nut, for the purpose of maintaining its ordinary horizontalmovement, as described.

S. D. BOVVKER. Witnesses:

J. F. SINGLE, T. ROCKWELL.

